


All you need is a bit of grace

by Veto_power_over_clocks



Series: Badly paraphrased songs [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A pinch of angst but not much, Blue spent 10000 years in a cave with no one to talk to, Blue wants to befriend everyone, Family, Gen, Lance gave Blue a nickname, Mentioned klance, and won't miss a chance to interact with anyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-12 19:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10497789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veto_power_over_clocks/pseuds/Veto_power_over_clocks
Summary: Facing an evil overlord is nothing compared to coming home. You might not survive the war, but you will most definitely survive seeing everyone again (and those are too many feelings for a lifetime).





	

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine the lions speaking in a mix of recordings and "text". I don't think they have voices, I think they sort of project words into your mind and you "read them" (because they're not actually text, they're straight up putting the words in your head, like thoughts) with the voice you want. Now, that means the words are flat, with no tone, so if they want a tone they have to find a memory on file that includes the words they need in the necessary tone. Of course, their Paladins are usually good at knowing what they mean just from their mood, so tones aren't necessary unless they really want to make something clear.
> 
> Anything that's written inside [ ] is meant to be spoken in Spanish. Except for the name 'Blue', assume that word is kept the same even when characters are speaking Spanish.
> 
> Inspired by a [text post](http://redalienwarship.tumblr.com/post/158194608151/how-do-u-think-lances-family-feels-when-he-comes) by @redalienwarship ("how do u think lance’s family feels when he comes home and hes like…” so i got a cat” and then blue smashes her head thru the garage door") and [the comic](https://teakoii.tumblr.com/post/158598528037/not-so-great-at-first-impressions-please) that @teakoii made based on it. Of course I ended up writing a lot of things that have nothing to do with the original idea...

“I swear I’m not scared,” Lance says aloud for what must be the third time in ten minutes. He believes what’s he’s saying, and he can prove that it’s true because he isn’t shaking, his heart-rate is about 80 beats per minute (yes, he has been counting), his breathing is even and normal, he isn’t sweating and his stomach isn’t doing that ugly twisty thing that makes it seem like he won’t be able to keep his food in. He isn’t afraid.

“ _I know that_ ,” Blue says, her ‘voice’ – or, more accurately, the tone of her words in his mind – appeasing. “ _But…_ ” she doesn’t continue, just lets him see through her eyes.

What he sees is the same thing he sees from the pilot chair: water all around them, and the sun above, its light distorted by the sea.

He has been on Earth for a grand total of three hours and he has spent all of them hiding underwater.

Because he can’t deny that he’s hiding. He is perfectly aware that he’s hiding. It’s just that he’s not hiding out of fear. Is that clear?

“ _Yes, Lance, it is perfectly clear_ ,” as she tells him this, Blue shows him what he has been doing for the last three hours. “ _You have made it perfectly clear._ ”

Lance winces at the barrage of images and words that reaches his mind in a second, forcing Blue to repeat her words and then show him again what she’d wanted him to see to make her point: the one hundred and seventeen variations of the speech Lance has prepared for when he sees his mother. None of them is very good.

“ _I feel like it would be easier if we simply landed in front of your house and you descended from me in front of her._ ” There is no inflection to her words, leaving Lance to wonder whether or not she’s serious.

He decides to be safe.

“That might give her a heart attack. Or maybe my big sister will think that aliens have finally invaded and she'll throw something at my head before she recognizes me. And then you’ll be without a Paladin.”

“ _I am sure that your sister would make a fine replacement if she manages to defeat you so easily._ ” For that she actually uses a ‘tone’. Now, since Blue isn’t actually speaking, just putting words into his head, for her to give her words a tone she needs to hunt for the right words in the right tone through his memories and hers, and then project the whole sentence into his mind, which means that the first two words are in her usual Not Voice, while the third one is actually said in Hunk’s voice, and there’s one that sounds like it was taken from a song. The effect is kind of lost in the mix, but it’s very clearly meant to be some light teasing.

One of the things Lance likes about Blue is that she always makes it clear that she’s teasing.

“She probably would, she's tough. But you can’t tell her I said that,” Lance says, smiling as he leans forward to gently pat the controls.

He looks up at the sun, high on the sky. According to his phone, it’s two in the afternoon. If nothing has changed since he left, his mom should be home, his dad should be at work, and his siblings should be at school. There’s no better time to do this.

“ _Okay, let’s go_ ,” he thinks.

“ _Are you sure?_ ”

“ _I’ll have to do it at some point._ ” He tries to sound confident.

He fails.

 

 

He leaves Blue on the shore and walks home, cursing the sun. His original idea had been to wear his usual clothes, the same ones he’d been wearing when he’d gone off to space, but then he’d decided that it’d be a hundred times easier to convince his mom that he’d been saving the universe if he showed up in the Paladin armor, so now he’s stuck in a heavy suit with sleeves he can’t roll up.

He keeps his head down, knowing that he’s getting looks from the few people he crosses on the way. He hopes they don’t recognize him and that they just think he’s a cosplayer, because the last thing he needs is for his neighbors to show up to see him before he has finished explaining everything.

Truth be told, Lance hadn’t really expected to return some day. During the first few days, back when fighting Zarkon had seemed more of an anecdote, something that had happened once and might not repeat itself (hahah, so naïve), he’d been sure that soon he’d be walking down the path towards his house. He’d pictured his mom opening the door, yelling at him for disappearing for a couple of weeks or months, and then hugging him. It was going to be easy. Scary as hell, but easy. Anyway, those fantasies had been inherently flawed, because he'd never included Blue in the scene - as if there was anywhere he could go that she wouldn’t follow.

Afterwards, when Zarkon had proven the kind of threat he was, Lance had stopped imagining. Sometimes he found himself thinking of home, and fearing that the only thing that would return would be his body in a coffin. Those times, he’d look up Earth in the map and watch the tiny unreachable dot, proof that there was somewhere to return to.

And now he’s here and his house looks the same as it used to. He’s not ready for this.

“ _Just go_ ,” Blue encourages, her presence steady and safe in his mind.

“ _I’m not sure what to do_ ,” he thinks as he walks to the door.

“ _According to the movies, you must raise your hand, make it into a fist and then hit the door with enough strength to produce a sound loud enough to be heard by the human ear._ ”

“ _Was that sarcasm?_ ”

“ _No? I am trying to help._ ” Blue is genuinely confused by the reception to her advice, if the fact that she used Keith's voice (her go-to source for bemused tones) for most of those words is any indication. 

Lance snorts and does as instructed.

Some seconds pass before he hears footsteps approaching the door and now he is actually afraid. His heart’s beating so fast he thinks it’s trying to escape his chest, and there’s a cold sensation at the pit of his stomach.

“[Yes? Who is this]?” asks a voice from inside the house. His mom’s voice, just like he remembers it. There's a small part of his brain that is relieved that he hasn't forgotten how Spanish sounds after so many months without hearing it - he'd been afraid that he'd forget, that the only words that would remain in his head would the basic ones, that he might not be able to string a sentence together in a language that actually matters anymore.

There’s a knot in Lance’s throat that keeps him from speaking, his eyes sting and he shakes with contained sobs. He is here. This isn’t a dream, or him getting carried away imagining, he really is standing in front of his house; he just needs to speak and the door will open.

He knocks again, afraid that his mother will leave the door if she doesn't hear anything.

"[I won't open if you don't identify yourself]," she says, defensive.

"[Mom]?"

He rests his hand on the door, only for it to open immediately, leaving his hand hovering awkwardly in the air.

His mother stands at the threshold, wide eyed. She doesn’t look at the armor, just raises her eyes to his face and studies it as her hands tentatively reach for him, as if he might vanish if she tried to touch him.

There are some more white roots in her hair, she’ll have to go to the hairdresser soon. A few more wrinkles on her face. She seems smaller than before. Her eyes are the same.

"[Hi]," he says.

She touches his face, wipes his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Lance," she says and starts crying, pulling him into a hug.

Nobody gives better hugs than his mom.

After what feels like too little time (because he’d really, really missed those hugs, and he wouldn’t mind spending an hour wrapped in his mother’s arms), he’s pulled inside. His mother takes his hand and doesn’t let go as she takes him to the living room, makes him sit down on the couch and turns to him, squeezing his hand.

“[What happened]?” she asks.

Lance looks around the room, gathering himself. He unsubtly searches for the table where his mother keeps the crucifix and pictures of everyone, and is relieved to see that the only picture with a candle in front of it is his own.

“[Yes, Lance],” his mother says, noticing his line of sight, “[we’re all okay.]”

“[Sorry, mom. I just… I kept thinking I might come back and I’d see grandma’s picture with the candles. Or grandpa’s. Or… or dad’s.]”

“[No, Lance. Only yours],” his mother says sadly. “[Lance, please. What happened? Where were you?]” She emphasizes the question, sounding almost imploring, and it makes Lance cry again. 

Crap. He’d been getting so good at not crying in front of others.

“[And what are you wearing]?” she adds, puzzled, seemingly finally noticing the Paladin armor.

“[I promise you that all I’m about to tell you is true and not some elaborate, unbelievable lie made up to cover up something illegal],” Lance says as he rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand.

“Lance…” she warns.

Lance gulps, raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture and stands up, taking out his bayard.

“[Mom, please. I know the rules.]” He smirks. “[You can lie to everyone, but never to your family.]”

She doesn’t seem convinced, just narrows her eyes, so he decides to just start with the explanations.

He lets his bayard transform into his weapon.

His mom’s eyes widen. She looks from the gun to his armor, and by the look of horror on her face he knows that she has guessed the most important parts of the story.

“[Please tell me that this is just some… very elaborate costume and not… not a uniform. And a weapon. And…]”

“[They are, mom.]”

“[How could you… Did the Garrison get you into that? Was this some sort of secret program? Was that why they didn't explain anything and just… just told us you’d gone missing?]”

“[No, mom. I just… stumbled onto an alien warship and accidentally became a defender of the universe.]”

She closes her eyes, covers her mouth with her hands.

“[My God],” she whispers.

Lance transforms back his bayard and puts it away, sits next to his mother again. She reaches for him, takes his face and examines it, looking for scars, touches his head, feeling for bumps and wounds, and when she’s done she hugs him again, pulls his head to the crook of her neck and holds him there.

“[I’m fine, mom.]”

“[I know. I know],” she says, but doesn’t let go.

 

 

Eventually his mom calms down and takes him to the garage, searches through a bunch of unmarked boxes until she finds him a pair of jeans and a button-down, and then sends him to take a shower.

“[You are going to tell me everything],” she says as she pushes him into the bathroom. “[But first you’re going to look like my son again.]”

The showerhead is new and harder to adjust than the one they had when he was last home. The water still takes too long to heat up. The towel’s new, but the same brand they’ve always bought.

When he’s done getting dressed, he actually feels more like the person he was the night he snuck out of the Garrison for the last time.

He finds his mother in the kitchen, hands wrapped around a mug of tea. There are leftover containers on the kitchen counter that she puts in the microwave as soon as he enters the room, and he doesn’t mention that her eyes are red and that there are tear tracks on her cheeks.

He tells her about his last night on Earth while he has lunch, and she doesn’t complain when he eats all the leftovers. She doesn’t ask many questions, even though she can probably tell that he’s glossing over the more dangerous parts of the story. He skips the part in which he jumped in front of Coran to save him from an explosion, doesn’t tell her everything about that time Shiro went missing, alludes to some wounds he’s had and makes emphasis on how good the healing pods are.

She probably knows everything anyway. That’s what mothers do.

After lunch, he takes her to meet Blue.

He doesn’t tell her where they’re going, because he’d purposefully avoided telling her much about Blue. He’d referred to her as his ship, his best girl, and his mom probably thinks he was talking about her in the way some people talk about their cars.

She makes him wear a baseball cap and sunglasses so he won't be recognized, and she holds his arm the whole way to the beach.

As they walk, she updates him on everyone’s lives, tells him about his older sister’s wedding, his little brother’s ballet classes, his little sister’s swimming lessons. It’s a relief to find out that his parents are still together – there was a corner of his mind that kept thinking about how some couples can’t take it after losing a child.

“[When I told the priest I’d be with him for the rest of our lives I wasn’t lying, you know?]” she says, mock offended.

“[You and dad have told me that since I was old enough to understand it],” Lance says.

“[Yes, because we meant it. We agreed to work together against any challenge that could threaten our marriage. And here you have us, thirty years later.]”

“[You haven’t been married for thirty years.]”

“[I’m counting since the day we started dating. I’m a romantic! I’m sure you’ll do the same when you marry.]”

“[Probably.]”

They reach an empty area of the beach and wait.

“Bonita!” he calls, walking towards the shore. He calls her with his mind as well.

“ _Finally_ ,” she says, and flies out of the water, doing some pirouettes in the air before landing in front of them.

Lance turns to gauge his mother’s reaction. Her mouth is open, her eyes are wide and she brought a hand to her heart. It all quickly changes: there’s a twinkle in her eyes, and her mouth curves into a smile, and he could swear she let out a squee.

“ _Yes, she is definitely your mother_ ,” Blue says, pleased and fond.

“[This is your warship?]” his mother says.

“[Yes, this is Blue. The best part of the greatest weapon in the universe],” he says, patting one of Blue’s legs proudly.

“[Does it talk?]”

Lance cringes.

“[She talks. Can you please not refer to her as an it?]”

"[I'm sorry, Blue]," she says, looking up. "[That was very rude of me.]"

“[ _It’s fine_ ],” Blue says. From the look on his mother’s face, Lance can tell that she heard Blue as well.

She studies Blue, eyes narrowing. Finally, she turns to Lance.

"[Son, can she and I talk in private?]"

All the alarms start ringing in his head, but they're both giving him a Look, so he nods and goes to the water, takes off his shoes and enjoys the sand between his toes, the water over his feet.

He doesn’t know how long they spend talking, because at some point he gets bored and lays down on the sand to rest, and then he’s being woken up by his mom.

“[You'll get sunstroke, boy],” she says fondly.

“[Did the two of you get along?]” Lance asks as he stands up, pointing at Blue.

“[Yes, we did. She is charming. I admit that, as your mother, I always thought you’d bring home a nice young girl or a nice young boy instead of a nice robotic cat, but I guess it’s fine as long as you’re happy.]”

“[Mom!]”

“[Just kidding, just kidding. But that reminds me, did you meet some nice alien out there?]” she asks, gesturing towards the sky. “[Someone you’d like to bring home?]”

Lance wishes that blushing wasn’t an involuntary reaction.

“[Mom, can we talk about that some other day?]”

She narrows her eyes, gives him a serious look for a moment and then smiles.

“[Fine. But are they good to you?]”

“[Yes, mom, he’s treating me right... Blue would kill him if he wasn’t.]”

“[Ah, even more reasons to like her. Please tell her that I’d help her with that.]”

“ _Keith wouldn't stand a chance_ ,” Blue tells him.

“[She heard you.]”

“[Great. Now we need to take her to meet everyone.]”

“[Right now?]”

“[Oh no, no. First you’re going to help me with dinner, then we’re going to set up the tents in the backyard so we can have dinner there tonight, then you’re going to put on that armor again and then we’re going to give you the welcome you deserve. After all, my son is a d-defender of the universe!]”

She smiles as she speaks. It’s a nervous smile, the worry showing in her eyes, in the small stutter, but she mostly looks proud.

Her son, the defender of the universe.

It’s enough to make Lance think that maybe the job’s a bit cooler than it had seemed to be lately.

 

 

There’s a lot more crying when everyone gets home. Lots of tears, lots of hugs, and lots of explanations. Not much disbelief, because the bayard makes for some very good proof, and there’s also the fact that his mom guarantees that he’s telling the truth, and no one in the house would disagree with her on anything.

They don’t let him change out of the armor, which is really uncomfortable, but worth it when everyone starts taking pictures and saying how proud they are.

“[Can you believe it?]” his grandma says, pointing to the armor. “[This family produced a space warrior!]”

“[I’m sure they have a better name for it],” his dad says.

Lance’s father hasn’t left his son’s side since he’d seen him. He had been the last to get home, and had been confused at finding the whole family in his living room. It had taken him a moment to recognize Lance among everyone. His hug had been the longest one by far.

“[They call us Paladins],” Lance says.

“[See? They do.]”

“[Ah, but it doesn’t have the same flair],” his grandma says, shaking her head.

“[I’m sure they were going for practicality over flair.]”

“[And I’m sure that if we don’t cut this conversation here],” Lance’s mom says, appearing from God-knows-where, probably because her Mother Sense was tingling, “[you’ll start a petty argument with my mother on a night in which we’re celebrating.]” She pecks her husband’s lips and then her mother on the cheek before taking Lance by the arm and dragging him in front of everyone.

She takes a glass from a nearby table and hits it with a spoon, catching everyone’s attention.

“[Good evening, family],” she starts, smiling. “[I’m sure you can guess why we’re all gathered here tonight. As you can see, I bought some lovely garden tents and I needed to use them. Also, my son Lance is back from outer space.]” Some laughter from the uncles and aunts, embarrassed groans from Lance's siblings and cousins, and a facepalm from Lance’s grandma. “[Cut me some slack, I’m trying here. Anyway, Lance is back, and I’m sure he’d like to say a few words.]”

She turns to him, still smiling, and winks at him.

“[Hi, everyone. I’ve already apologized to each of you for all this time. I promise you I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry for making you cry. That’s… that’s the last thing I ever wanted. I…]” he pauses, looks down so he can’t see his family’s expressions. His mom puts a hand on the back of his neck and scratches his head. “[Yeah. Sorry. But now I’m back. Eh… I have been asked the same questions the whole evening, so I’m just going to repeat the answers here in case somebody else was wondering. Yes, aliens do exist. No, I didn’t get a hot alien partner, but I did get a hot half-alien partner that you have to promise to tease a lot when I manage to bring him here. Wi-fi in space is better than here. Their movies are weirder…]” He pretends to think for a moment. “[Oh, I know that nobody asked about this , but I felt you should know. I got a cat!]”

“[Really?]” his little siblings ask simultaneously. “[Can we see it?]”

“[Sure!]”

In that moment, Blue pushes her head inside the tent, lifting it, as she says, “[ _Hello, my Paladin’s biological kin!_ ]”

Lance’s father screams. His grandma jumps back. His older sister throws her glass at Blue’s head; it shatters against her muzzle and leaves a stain. His little siblings look delighted.

By Lance’s side, his mother is laughing, her hands to her stomach. The words Blue had projected had been a recording of his mom’s voice from a couple of hours earlier, when she’d decided that that would be a great way to introduce Blue to everyone.

“ _I like your family_ ,” Blue says, watching while everyone calms down and starts demanding explanations.

“ _That’s great, Bonita, because we’ll have to take everyone flying around before we leave tomorrow._ ”

“ _I don’t mind._ ”

“ _Cool._ ”

“ _Cool_ ,” Blue repeats, leaning down to let Lance’s family approach her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I stole the line "Hello, my Paladin’s biological kin!" from @redalienwaship's tags in the original post.
> 
> This is set at some ambiguous point in the future. I refuse any canon in which Lance stops piloting Blue.
> 
> You probably noticed that Lance calls Blue 'Bonita' a couple of times. That's a compliment in Spanish, means something like 'pretty/cute'. I headcanon Lance giving nicknames to everyone and everything, but not always using them. Anyway, Blue is his best girl, so of course she gets a nickname. A flattering nickname.
> 
> You can go say hi at [my personal tumblr](http://veto-power-over-clocks.tumblr.com).
> 
> If you liked this fic and feel like promoting it, would you consider reblogging [this post](http://veto-power-over-fanworks.tumblr.com/post/159074759100/all-you-need-is-a-bit-of-grace)? Thanks!


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